I called Watson's attention to the approaching horsemen, but he was firmly convinced that they were Indians. His rifle lay horizontally in front of him; when riding he leaned slightly forward. Most modern accounts of the Battle of the little Bighorn confidently state that Daniel Kanipe and John Martin -- or Curley, if they're being liberal enough to consider Indians human -- were the last Seventh Cavalry survivors to see Custer alive, even though Kanipe himself said that Thompson was the last one to see Custer alive. We all knew that the Indians never fought after night fall. There was no weak place unguarded, no ammunition was being wasted. A person could easily be mistaken, for the road over which they passed was rocky, sandy, and hard, consequently, the marks left by the horses' feet were very faint.20 Notwithstanding, this mistake left us in a very critical condition. He had managed to make his way under cover of the ravine to the place where I found him. Suddenly a small band of Indians came up towards us on a jog trot, which made us seek cover. On coming to Bennett, I placed a canteen in his hand, but he was too weak to lift it to his lips. Look where we could, we saw Indians; we two on foot could not cope with scores of them on horseback. [Note: Custer apparently didn't like the looks of the ford at Medicine Tail Coulee (it required his men to cross four abreast) and so he quickly rode off for a quick "scout" while his men dismounted on the river bank, as White Shield and and Goes Ahead witnessed. He was a trumpeter, belonging to either Company I or L and I am very sorry that I have forgotten his name. That was the last I ever saw of Custer alive. Coming out of the river was one of our Crow scouts, mounted on his horse with the end of a rawhide rope over his shoulder, which he held firmly in his right hand. About a half a mile further on we came in sight of the Indian village and it was truly an imposing sight to anyone who had not seen anything like it before. Our men never wavered but hugged the ground as close as possible and fired whenever they found the slightest opportunity to do execution. But in the meantime several accidents happened which helped to make it a serious matter for us. Watson, surprised, answered, "No," and again asked what was up. Fortunately for me the soil was soft and loose to light upon. Or at least that's one plausible way to read the eye-witness record of the battle. Harry Campbell for TIME. I laid down my canteens and took my kettle in my left hand and made several long leaps which landed me close to the water's edge. Medal of Honor winner Peter Thompson was the last Seventh Cavalry trooper to get out of George A. Custer's doomed command alive. The horses were held back behind and inside of the circle of skirmishers. After the volley was past, it was a wonder to me how I had escaped. Watson said he saw that the stirrup strap was broken off and Jackson without any hat, presented a wild appearance. He had received this latter name from the fact that on the back of his buckskin shirt the print of two human hands was visible, either put there by red ink or blood. I soon turned the bend of the ravine, but no signs of them did I see. 5 Jan 2023. The supports that were used were short pieces of wood of any kind that we could procure without risk. But our men were still on the alert. It had taken us one half hour to reach this place, making three hours in all. When one fell either dead or wounded he was carried from the field; but there remained plenty to take his place; but if a soldier fell there was no one to take his, and if wounded there was no one to bring him water to quench his thirst; if dying, no one to close his eyes. James Watson], and although composing one of the sets of fours that entered into action with Custer, not one of us ever reached the battlefield which proved fatal to Custer and his men. John Fitzgerald], Brennan [Pvt. Peter Thomson, in full Peter William Thomson, (born August 23, 1929, Brunswick, Victoria, Australiadied June 20, 2018, Melbourne, Victoria), Australian golfer who won the British Open five times and who was the first Australian to win that tournament. I made my way to the head of the ravine which ran down to the river. As this duel had been one-sided so far, I determined to try my hand. I concluded that there was nothing like trying. "And the strangest part of it," added Watson, "was that instead of taking the back trail, he struck straight from the river across the country and as far as he could see him, he was urging his pony to its utmost speed. I began to watch the actions of the men. For his valor at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Thompson was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Kanipe said Custer was "gone two hours. The. meaning Indian Department. Some of the poor fellows would never recover, others would be crippled for life and I would carry a broken hand. Whether he had gone through the village or waded down the stream to reach his command is a question that cannot be answered; but as we had seen no signs of him crossing to the opposite side, we naturally thought that he had made his way down the stream. I gave them the other canteen and told them that if they should not require all the water that I would like it to be passed around to some other wounded ones lying close by, which was so done. Crow scout Running Wolf described how "Custer went ahead to look for a trail for the wagons" in the Bad Lands, and both Daniel Kanipe and John Ryan described how Custer left his command and rode ahead with just Chief Trumpeter Henry Voss and a few scouts on the morning of June 25. A large-scale search was made of the surrounding area, but he was never found. At this point the trail was washed very badly on both sides as it descended towards the river. He was arrested in March 2014. I wandered to the edge of the bluff overlooking the village. The hill we were climbing seemed very long, so much so to me that I fell down and lay there without any inclination to move again, until Watson called my attention to the head of the column of cavalry which now came into plain view. And, the pop star's son Junior Andre, 17, took to Instagram on Monday, where he shared shirtless snap of the duo with just towels around their waists. This aroused me and I managed to struggle to a sitting posture, but the man and the gun were gone. George A. Finckle] of our company sitting calmly on his horse looking on and making no effort to help Watson in his difficulty. This is even true of Kingsley Bray's generally admirable 2006 Crazy Horse: A Lakota Life. It seemed to be the desire of each to utterly exterminate. We had scarcely been concealed ten minutes before we heard a heavy volley of rifle shots down the stream, followed by a scattering fire, I raised to my feet and parting the brush with my gun; the stalks being covered with long sharp thorns, which made it quite disagreeable for a person's clothes and flesh. We formed the cracker boxes into a half circle and kept them as close together as possible. In all probability he had outrun them. I knew that if the cavalry drove the savages from their village, they would scatter in all directions, and if any of the straggling devils came across such an unfortunate as myself, I would stand a poor show. Emigrated to the United States 1865, settled with his parents in Pittsburgh, Pennsylyania. I told him I would get him some if I lived. The red devils seemed determined to crush us. The Astonisher.com Map (above) reveals how he escaped the fate of his comrades, told in the eye-witness accounts of Thompson himself, fellow Seventh Cavalry survivor, John McGuire, and an Anonymous Ree scout, possibly Half Yellow Face.. Confident this will flow on to benefits for SDG14 & Ocean biodiversity. But we waited in vain. This ungainly dismount caused the water to fly in every direction. James Watson's experiences along the banks of the Little Bighorn on the afternoon of June 25th. They picked the wrong place", "Six Palestinian prisoners escape Israeli jail through tunnel", "Gangsters use vehicles to ram into Mexico prison and free nine inmates", "Jail Officer and Murder Suspect Missing After Heading to "Bogus" Appointment", "Details emerge about man and 4 grandsons killed by fugitive murderer in Texas: "Good, salt of the earth people", "Roberto Jos Carmona ya ingres al penal de Cruz del Eje", "Armed attack on Mexican jail leaves 14 dead", "George Feigley escapes from jail after being recaptured in West Virginia", "George Feigley recaptured in Tennessee after second escape", I love you Phillip Morris: a conman's story, "City Press, Sondag 23 November 2003, p. 4: The trials and tribulations of a cash heist tycoon", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_prison_escapes&oldid=1139444815. The loss of blood and the lack of water made me so dizzy that I reeled and f ell and lay unheeded. All realized that the less ammunition expended the better. Assigned to Co. C, 7th Cavalry, under Capt. The men only fired where they thought they were going to do execution. ", After the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Thompson "participated in the Northern Cheyenne Campaigh 1878 Honorable Discharge 1880 Homesteaded Alzada, Montana 1890 Married September 21 1904 to Ruth Boicourt, two children, Susan and Peter Jr. Looking in the direction of the battle, I saw that the cavalry were being driven towards the foot of a small hill; their number greatly reduced. View the profiles of professionals named "Peter Thomson" on LinkedIn. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Well," said he, "Who are those ahead of us?" Some of them were so close to us that their fire was very affective. In a clump of red berry bushes we found a log which made quite a comfortable seat for us. The commotion in the village had subsided; the signs of life were few; it appeared to me that it was deserted, so quiet and deathlike was the stillness. Updated April 24, 2011, The Eye-witness Chronology Additionally, Thompson provides the last look at Custer alive; he shows that Indians used captured Cavalry bugles, as Roman Nose did at the Battle of Beecher's Island; and he describes the clever "stationary wheel" technique they employed in their attack on Custer, as well as its withering effect on the Americans: Round and round rode the savages in a seemingly tireless circle. To say that we were astonished would faintly express our feelings. The Eye-witness Chronology Peter Thompson at the Little Bighorn Map. But my duty was plain. Beside him, I saw Sergeant Finkle [Sgt. Watson, looking around at me said, "What in thunder is the matter?" Making my way back towards the mouth of the ravine a volley of half a score of rifle balls whistled past me and the lead buried itself in the bank beyond. The sight of this increased our courage. Ponies were dashing here and there with their riders urging them on; the dust would rise and mingle with the smoke of the burning grass and brush. He answered, "To our scouts, of course." A short distance from me lay a wounded man, groaning and struggling in the agony of death. Peter Andre has turned 50-years-old. We had plenty of them and some of them very badly hurt. On examining my saddle, I was glad to find everything as I had left it. 14. Some of us unloaded the mules of the hard tack they were carrying and used the boxes for a breastwork. One thing we made up our minds to do, that was to kill the white man even if the Indian escaped. Are they really "impossible?". The problem that now perplexed us was what we were to do. But now they were beginning to recover themselves. I started on looking back once in a while to see if the Indians were coming. For about three miles on the left bank of the river the teepees were stretched, the white canvas gleaming in the sunlight. When I fired this shot, Watson jumped to his feet and began to lead his horse out of the stream toward me. He studied for a moment and then waded out of the stream leaving his horse with everything on it as I had done. The herd of ponies which had been grazing at quite a distance were now rounded up close to the teepees; so that the Indians had available mounts. I answered, "If you don't get off your horse at once, you will get shot." I had made haste to fill the canteens and started on my way to camp bidding Mike Madden to be of good cheer and he made a cheerful reply. While I was meditating on the meanness of human nature, I saw Capt. In 1986, at age 19, Matt was convicted and sentenced to a year in jail. The Indians who seemed to be detailed to bring in the dead and the wounded were continually coming into the village with double burdens showing that the soldiers though greatly decreased in numbers were still doing eff ective work. This caused me some surprise, as I knew he had lost a great deal of blood which is almost invariably followed by great thirst. I came up to him and saw that he had two camp kettles completely riddled with bullets. Peter Benjamin Parker, tambm conhecido por seu pseudnimo de Homem-Aranha, um personagem fictcio e protagonista da srie de filmes The Amazing Spider-Man de Marc Webb.Adaptado do super-heri de mesmo nome da Marvel Comics criado por Stan Lee e Steve Ditko, ele interpretado por Andrew Garfield e aparece nos filmes The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) e sua sequncia The Amazing Spider . Round and round rode the savages in a seemingly tireless circle. One young man had the courage of a lion. It was impossible for him to move further without assistance. I called to Watson to keep quiet for a few moments, and began to walk backwards up the bank keeping my eyes fixed on the Indian and watching his every movement. The Indians while fighting remained mounted, the cavalry dismounted. Peter Thompson at the Little Bighorn Map. The well-trained horses were kept well in hand. Peter is calculated in this analysis to own 14% of Woodbridge's stake in Thomson Reuters and it's Cash & Other Assets. Peter Thompson went on to be wounded in Frederick Benteen's desperate, do-or-die charge to clear the head of the ravine that night, and then the next morning, before he had his wounds bandaged, he went for water for a dying friend as part of the extremely dangerous water brigade. Near the water's edge, some distance up the river, we saw a large body of Indians holding a council, and that we might avoid them we kept as close to the cover of the brush as possible and went as rapidly as we could towards the face of the bluff. To see them, please click on the underlined portion at the right side below. On the top of the bluff just where we desired to go there were seated three Indians with their ponies but a short distance behind them. While making these observations, I also made a pleasant discovery. [Note: this is an interesting observation -- the first description I know of by a white of the "stationary wheel" technique which allowed the mounted, circling Indian cavalry to (1) maximize the concentration of their firepower, and (2) minimize their exposure to American soldiers's fire. "Well," I thought, "I will get along anyway." said he, "Let's move." A peculiar accident happened to a man lying next to me, sheltered by a cracker box and talking in a cheerful manner about the probabilities of us getting out of our present difficulty, when a ball came crashing through the box hitting him and killing him instantly. Suddenly we heard above all other sounds, the call of a bugle. They went on a crime spree through Louisiana and Florida that included multiple robberies and thefts, and all three participated in the kidnap and murder of Florida State University grad student, Vincent Binder. The Indians seemed determined to exterminate us if possible. However, the most likely is Curley, who was at the river alone -- as Thompson described -- and he was always fundimentally evasive about what happened there. The Indians let fly with their rifles with the usual result. He was one of 12 convicts who escaped the institution through a tunnel. He had made the mistake of placing the box the wrong way, the edge of the crackers toward the outside. While looking on and wondering where the Crow was going we were further astonished by seeing General Custer dash out of the fording place and ride rapidly up to the Crow and commence to talk to him. I asked him if his horse was not played out; he said it was. The Indians were closing in around us. On March 17, 1995, in Sublette, Kansas Dawn Amos, Douglas Winter and David Spain escaped in the early morning hours after shooting Sheriff Deputy, Irvin Powell twice. He was found guilty of robbing R12,6-million from a depot of the SBV security company in Pretoria in October 1997. The canvas had to be stretched very close to the ground. We managed to secret ourselves in a bend of the river, which turned like the letter S, and gave us running water on three sides of us. Tom Custer and other Seventh Cavalry troopers riding across the river in the moonlight, but it turned out to be Indians in captured Army uniforms.]. I jerked it from his grasp and passed it on to the next. I made a dive through the retreating column in quest of my horse and found it in the center of the command led by Fitzgerald, who seemed greatly surprised at seeing me saying, "I thought the Indians had your scalp!" I knew that if anyone needed such an implement they were liable to take it. We determined to ambush them if they attempted to pursue us. But alas! 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